


The Astral Sea is Dark and Deep

by TaraHarkon



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Child Death, Children, Cookies, Death, Fear, Grim Reapers, M/M, Post-Canon, The Astral Plane, fear of the dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 19:44:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16562093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: Death is not fair. Death does not always have a warning. Death comes for us all in our own time.But Death is not cruel nor does Death wish to scare us.And sometimes, Death needs a helping hand and a plate of cookies.





	The Astral Sea is Dark and Deep

If there was one thing that Kravitz hated about his job, it was the children. Children were never something he should have to deal with. And yet... and yet... Here he was again, lifting the soul of a child into his arms. The half-orc child held onto Kravitz by the front of his suit, closing his eyes tightly. The spirit was shaking with fear and Kravitz rubbed her back, doing his best to soothe her. 

"It's alright, little one. Everything's going to be alright now. The bad people won't hurt you again, I promise."

She nodded a little, one small thumb slipping into her mouth. Kravitz turned, summoning his scythe into his hand as he turned back on the destroyed remains of the ritual space behind him. As they stepped through into the Astral Plane, Kravitz hesitated. Normally, he would deposit this soul into the Astral Sea but as he walked towards it, the small soul in his arms began to squirm again. 

"No. No no no. Dark. Don't like the dark."

Kravitz nearly dropped her as she started fighting, trying to climb over his shoulder. He let his scythe vanish and grabbed her with both hands. She grabbed his jacket and pulled herself towards him, holding herself tight against him.

"No dark. No dark."

Well, this obviously wasn't going to work. 

"Alright, alright, we won't go into the dark." He adjusted his hold on her, making sure he had support against her back. "What's your name, little one?"

She sniffed and looked up at him.

"Sarah."

He nodded and turned towards the Eternal Stockade, considering his choices. He could go to his Queen, but it was likely that she would say the small soul belonged in the Astral Sea with the others, especially considering the form of her death. It was so much better if she was simply given a second chance, wasn't it? Instead, he went to his office. Balancing Sarah on his hip, he reached into the drawer of his desk for a small crystal mirror that Taako had given him. He popped it open and stared into the purplish stone. It shimmered and reflected the candlelight in the small office. Stones of Farspeech could work across planes, of course, but it was unreliable. And sometimes, he really wanted to be able to see Taako's face. He tapped on the surface of the crystal and after a moment, it blinked to life. Taako grinned at him through the crystal, hair up in a messy bun and the kitchen table behind him.

"Hey there, handsome. How's work going?"

Kravitz smiled tenderly at Taako, taking just a moment to be reassured by his casual grin. Taako never failed to make him feel more at ease when things were off balanced in his life. It was a delightful thing. 

"Interestingly, love. I don't suppose I could get a bit of advice." Then he adjusted the angle of the crystal. "Say hello, Sarah. This is Taako."

The little half-orc girl waved excitedly.

"Hi, Taako!"

Taako's eyes widened and his ears flicked back for a moment. Then he smiled.

"Hey there, pumpkin. How'd you find a kid, Bones? I thought that was my job."

Kravitz smiled just slightly and Taako looked worried again.

"I found her at work."

There was absolutely no mistaking what that meant, even with her looking quite alive and corporeal since they were in the Astral Plane. Taako's ears flicked back and stayed there. 

"Sounds like you're having a day there, my guy. So, what's up? Because if you just want to chat, I'm down, but know that cha'boy's got the oven going."

Kravitz bounced Sarah a bit higher up on his hip, considering. Then he lit on an idea.

"Well, I was hoping for some advice about what to do with this little one, but... I don't suppose you're making c-o-o-k-i-e-s, are you?"

Taako mouthed the letters back and then his ears flicked up.

"Oh, f- uuuuuuhhhhhhh, absolutely, Krav. And they're gonna be out pretty soon too. Wanna pop by and grab some?"

Kravitz nodded, a relieved smile crossing his face.

"That sounds great. I just need to figure out what I’m doing with Sarah... I can’t exactly bring her to the prime material plane, Taako.”

Taako considered that for a moment, idly slapping an oven mitt against his thigh. Then he snapped.

“Just open your spooky door and I’ll come visit you. S’not like Bird Mom hasn’t allowed it before. I’ll just pop in, we can have a super rad snack time, and then I pop back. No crime, no foul.”

Kravitz choked on a laugh and hoped fervently that his Queen hadn’t heard Taako calling her that. Again. But it did sound like a good idea and Sarah was staring at Taako in open wonder. So maybe he really could help.

“Alright. How much longer do you need?”

Taako glanced at something out of the view of the crystal mirror and then shrugged.

“Like five minutes, but stay on the line. You and I both know you’ve got no sense of time when we’re not on the same plane, my man.”

Ten or so minutes later with the inevitable feline interruptions, Taako stepped through a portal of Kravitz’s making with a plate of hot, fresh, gooey chocolate chip cookies in his hands.

“Hail and well met. Want a cookie, kid?”

Sarah bounced, straining to try and reach the plate without letting go of Kravitz. Taako laughed and handed her one. She immediately jammed it into her mouth, smearing chocolate all over her hands and face.

“Thanks, Taako. I’ve been... perhaps a bit out of my depth here.”

Taako had already set the plate on Kravitz’s desk and reached for the child. She held her hands out to him and he took her expertly, balancing her on one hip like he had decades of playing nursemaid.

“So what’s the sitch, Bones? Don’t you usually just... yeet, right into the lake.”

“Slightly less yeet and... Never mind proper procedure. She won’t go into the Sea at all. She’s afraid of the dark.”

Taako looked down and Sarah had her head resting against his side and her eyes closed as she faded into sleep. Or something like it at least.

“Makes sense. Cha’boy wouldn’t exactly be down for going quietly into that fuckin’ goodnight either.” Well, that and after the Hunger, was there really anyone on any plane who could truly say they weren't afraid of the dark? Then he frowned. “Wait, wait, why are you talking to me about this? Shouldn’t you go report this to Bird Mom and call it good?”

Kravitz exhaled slowly, expression uncomfortable and a blush highlighting his features.

“Holy shit, Krav, are you playing hooky right now?”

Kravitz raised a hand and then let it fall. He couldn’t argue, could he? That was more or less what he was doing. He was avoiding going to his Queen for fear she would tell him to just do his job. And why wasn’t he doing his job? Because he didn’t want to scare a child. Death didn’t want to scare a child.

Kravitz sighed a little and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It’s complicated, love. But I don’t know what to do if I can’t get her to go into the Sea.”

Taako nodded a little, rocking the child just slightly to keep her asleep through their conversation. His ears flicked back and forth as he thought, something that Kravitz had always found extremely endearing.

“Okay... So is there like a shallow end? Or a... an Astral wading pool or something?”

“A... what?”

Taako raised an eyebrow at Kravitz.

“You know, an Astral kiddie pool. Same shit but smaller and less dark and scary. I dunno if you’ve looked at it lately, my man, but the Astral Sea is dark and deep and kids don’t dig that.”

Kravitz looked absolutely gobsmacked. He’d never even considered the possibility. He held his hand out, summoning his scythe back into it and grabbed a cookie.

“Can you watch her for... however long it takes me to buy a kiddie pool? I’ll be right back, alright?”

Taako was already moving to lounge in Kravitz’s favorite chair, Sarah fast asleep across him.

“Natch. Cha’boy’s got it." He brushed the girl's dark hair back from her face. "Don't even worry."

A tender smile crossed Kravitz's face as he watched Taako and then he turned, cutting a portal through to the prime material plane.  

* * *

 

It was an hour or so before Kravitz returned to find that Taako had also fallen asleep, head tilted back and mouth open. Kravitz opened the package of the new wading pool as quietly as he could, using magic to inflate it. Then he set it in the corner of his office and thought about the next step. He'd need to fill it with water from the Astral Sea. First though, he took the enchanted crystals he'd also bought and set them in the base of the pool. Each one was a perfect sphere of quartz and each one had been polished until it shone and then a light spell had been set in it. There. A perfect nightlight for when he was out. After all, he didn't spend every night in the Astral Plane these days. He didn't even really live here any more. Not with an apartment full of cats and a wonderful boyfriend to go home to every night. And he didn't want anyone who ended up in this Astral wading pool of his to be scared if the room was dark.

The next step though... He would need to find a way to transport part of the Astral Sea, to ensure that it was still an aspect of that place, and ensure that his Queen wasn't upset about it. He took a breath and opened a window, looking out at the Sea far below. He had never considered it dark... at least, not before the Hunger. He had always seen the silvery wisps deep within and been comforted. It was deep but it was full of love and kindness. But then he remembered the oil-slick darkness that had pulled him under, that had choked his lungs and held him under that water far longer than any living being should have been able to survive. He could understand being afraid. He could understand very well.

Kravitz turned away from the window and headed down to the throne room. He would talk to his Queen first before anything else. When he arrived in the throne room, she was seated on her immense alabaster throne as ever, with her piercing eyes focused on him.

"Tell me, my Reaper, have you yet found the solution to your problem?"

That set Kravitz back and he knelt, feeling a hot blush rising straight up his slightly pointed ears. He wasn't sure how exactly she knew what was going on, but honestly he shouldn't have been surprised. It seemed like she always knew what was going on, even when he tried to hide it.

"I may have, my Queen. But I need your permission. I think that the children, at least those that are scared, could benefit from perhaps... a waystation before they go into the Sea? Perhaps something smaller and friendlier until they're ready?"

She nodded slowly, a bit of a smile showing under the raven skull mask she wore that obscured her visage.

"I will gladly give my blessing unto the Astral kiddie pool, as your mate has named it."

Kravitz's blush only brightened and he stood again.

"Thank you, my Queen."

She made a sound then and it took him a moment to realize she was chuckling quietly.

"You will find that it has been filled. Make sure the child has another cookie before she enters its waters. And tell your mate that I also require a tithing of his baked goods."

Kravitz bit his lower lip, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and bowed.

"Of course, my Queen. I'll tell him right away."

With that, he turned and only just barely didn't run back up the stairs. Taako was still fast asleep, one hand still holding the sleeping child against his chest. Kravitz turned, looking into the waters that now filled the small wading pool with its cheerful ducks painted on it. He considered then, deep in thought, if perhaps he could convince Magnus to carve a duck for the pool. Would the spirits like it? Perhaps. The waters weren't as dark, they were shallow, and they didn't fill him with that same nightmarish dread. With a small smile on his face, he sat to wait for Taako and Sarah to wake.

* * *

 

An hour or so later, the little girl blinked into wakefulness and then reached up to tug on one of Taako's long, expressive ears. Taako spluttered into wakefulness and then laughed when he realized what had happened.

"None of that, you. We don't pull on an elf's ears. It's rude. Got it?"

Sarah giggled but she nodded.

"Sorry. Won't do it again."

Taako balanced her carefully as he stood.

"I don't know if I believe you, kid."

She giggled again and he looked over at Kravitz, ears flicking back as he realized there was now a kiddie pool on the floor and that it was full. He picked up another cookie, handing it to her, and then gave Kravitz another look.

"So... All done, my man?"

Kravitz nodded once.

“I made sure everything was set for her. There are lights and everything. And someday she can go into the Sea with everyone else when she’s less scared.”

Sarah was still munching on cookies happily and looked over now, grabbing onto Taako’s shirt and smearing chocolate on him.

“Wha’s that?”

Taako carried her over to the pool and knelt, Kravitz beside him. All three looked into the water and Kravitz suddenly realized it too had those familiar silver swirls. And he could hear giggling, as though just down a hall. The Raven Queen had done far more than she had said, far more than even implied.

“A place full of kids like you, so you can play and not be scared.” Kravitz reached over to brush her dark hair back out of her eyes. “It sounds like they’re having a lot of fun in there. Are you ready?”

Sarah hesitated for just a moment, listening to the laughter. Then she hugged Taako and leaned towards Kravitz.

“Hug first.”

Kravitz hugged her tightly and then set the small soul into the water. A streak of silver light shot down into the others and Kravitz could have sworn that the laughter grew louder.

Taako stood, stretching his back, and then looked down at his shirt. With an oddly distant look on his face, he pulled out his wand and cast a prestidigitation to clean himself off.

“I don’t know how the fuck you do it, Bones.”

Kravitz nodded mutely and then scrubbed at his face. Neither did he, not really. Not times like this. Then he shook his head a little and gave Taako a smile.

“I thought you should know, love, my Queen has requested cookies.”

Taako snorted a laugh and grabbed the plate with what was left.

“At this rate, cha’boy’s gonna have to bake a whole nother batch if Ango’s getting any when he gets home for break.”

He sounded mildly annoyed but his ears were still flicked back and Kravitz knew it was only a cover. He put an arm around Taako’s shoulders.

“I’ll come home and help.”

“Sounds perfect.”


End file.
